Replaceable crown closure



Dec, 15, 194,2. c. s. JACKSON 2,304,826

REPLACEABLE CROWN CLOSURE Filed July 1, 1940v 2 sheets-sheet 1 ATTORNEY Dec. 15, 1942. c, s.- JACKSON 2,304,826

REPLCEABLE CROWN CLOSURE Filed July 1, 1940 Y y2sheets-Smau:2

A M /4 v l l ff f I BY z ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 15, 1942 REPLACEABLE oaowN cLosUBE Clarence S. Jackson, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Peters Bros. Rubber Co., Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation o! New York p Application July 1, 1940, Serial No. 343,385

4 Claims. (Cl. 21S-39) This invention relates to replaceable 'closures for lbottles and other containers, and more particularly to a container having a readily removable and replaceable crown type closure cap and to a method of making and applying same.

In the case o f bottled beverages containing a gas under pressure, such, for example, as ginger ale, soda, beer or the like, it is frequently desir- -able to reclose the container after a portion of the contents has been removed, and cap manufacturers and bottlers have long sought to obtain a cheap, emcient and practicable replaceable closure for this purose.

There are various auxiliary closures such as rubber stoppers or the like now available for reclosing a container of the above type. These closures, however, are cumbersome to use, must be separately purchased, and are not always available when needed.

A replaceable closure would also permit the sale of beverages in larger units than has heretofore been possible. For example, there would be certain economic advantages in marketing beer in two-quart containers. Such containers, however,

would not be acceptable to the public unless provided With readily replaceable closures which would be capable of resealing a container without loss of pressure.

Containers for beverages of the above type are usually closed by a crown cap having an outer metal shell and an inner cushion liner of composition cork or the like. The outer shell is provided with a fluted skirt having internal nubs which are crimped beneath a bead around the pouring lip of the container for holding the cap in place. Caps of this type are of standard construction and are manufactured and sold on a very large scale. It is accordingly desirable to provide a means for utilizing such standard caps to form a replaceable closure. The parts should also be constructed and arranged so that the caps may be applied by standard capping means so as to avoid the cost of purchasing and installing additional equipment at the bottling plant.

It ls accordingly an object of the present inscalable closure embodying a standard cap of the crown type. Another object is to provide a reclosable container which is adapted to be closed by a standard cap which may be applied by stand- -ard capping machinery. Still another object is to provide-a closure of the above type which is readily replaceable, and which, when so replaced, seals the container against loss of pressure,

vention to provide a readily replaceable and rewhereby beverages may be kept therein for extended periods.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a closure of the crown cap type which may be removed without the use of tools such as a bottle opener. Another object is to provide a closure of the above type which may be readily removed and replaced by hand.

In accordance with standard practice the bead around the pouring lip of a bottle is made in a shape which has been found suitable for cooperating with the internal nubs of the cap skirt to hold the cap in pressure engagement with the pouring lip. Standard caps are formed with twenty-one such nubs which are spaced around the periphery thereof.

I have found that a suitable seal may be effected by the use of less than twenty-one nubs, for example by arranging the nubs in a plurality of spaced groups. The holding power may be increased if necessary -by forming the pouring lip with a continuous convex top surface which extends the contact with the cushion liner of the cap to the internal bore of the bottle. In this way the area exposed to pressure is reduced and the ,total force tending to bend the shell and remove or distort the cap is correspondingly reduced. In the case of non-pressure or still beverages, however, the seal may be satisfactory with the use of a rim of standard shape.

In accordance with the present invention spaced groups of nubs areVV relied upon for holding the cap in place and the bead, between the groups of nubs, is provided with inclined grooves or slots forming partial threads or the like which are so arranged that a standard crown cap, when applied by means of Va standard capping machine, automatically seats and seals around the inclined threads as Well as around thev intervening portions of the bead to form corresponding holding nubs and threads on the cap, so arranged that the cap may be removed by unscrewing the same from the bottle neck. The cap is thus securely held to form a pressure-tight seal but may be easily removed without the use of tools. After removal the cap may be manually replaced to again effect a pressure seal by firstl exerting pressure to snap the same over thebead and then turning the cap slightly by hand to seat the nubs. When thus replaced the cap has been found to have practically its original sealing power. The consumer is thus enabled to remove the cap without destroying or deforming the same and to relclose the container by the use of the same cap as often as desired.

mneugn the nevel reames which ere believed to be characteristic of the invention are pointed out more particularly in the claims appended herey in which:

Fig. 1 .is a side elevation of a bottle neck illustrating one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof; 1

Figs. 3 to 8 are radial sections taken along the correspondingly numbered sectional lines of Fig. 2, but showing a cap in position on the bottle neck; y y Y Fig. 9 is an enlarged side elevation showing a cap in sealing position:

Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating the method of capping a bottle in accordance with the invention; andv Fig. 11 is a side elevation of a bottle neck illustrating a further embodiment of the invention.

In the following description and in the claims certain specific terms are used for convenience in referring to various details of the invention. These terms,y however, are to be given as broad an interpretation as the state of the art will permit.

In the drawings. the invention is shown as applied to a glass bottle having a neck I of standard construction provided ,with an external peripheral bead 2 surrounding a pouring lip 3. The dimensions of the neck I, bead 2 and pouring lip 3 are such that the container may be closed by a standard crown cap having an outer shell of metal provided with an annular depending uted skirt 'I .having internal holding nubs 6.

A cushion liner of suitable' material, such as composition cork or the like, is'seated within the shell 5 and is adapted to cooperate with the pouring lip l for sealing the container. A center spot S-of suitable material, such 1as metal foil or the like, may be secured to the cushion liner 8 in any convenient manner in a position such that the edges thereof are engaged by the pouring lip I as illustrated. It is to be undertsood that the above-described crown cap is of standard construction and that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction thereof in conformity with standard practice. The center spot may be omitted or may be extended to cover the entire surface of the liner l as desired.

In accordance with the present invention the bead 2 on the bottle neck is formed with spaced sections Il having the usual bottom edge to receive the holding nubs 6 of the cap, and with inclined channels or grooves I0 extending upwardly from the end of each section II to form a thread in the bead. In the embodiment shown three holding sections I I are spaced equally about the periphery, each section being -fadapted to receive two nubs of the crown cap. It is toy be understood, however, that the sections may be adapted to receive any desired numbers of nubs depending upon the spacing thereof and the holding force required. In certain instances a single holding nub may be suflicient for each section. In other cases groups of 'three or more nubs may be required. It will be noted that the piace as .well as forming threads to bead 2 are in a plane parallel to the plane of th pouring lip 3.

The portions of the bead 2 above the grooves I0 are tapered inwardly as shown in Fig. 2 so as to form, in effect, a conical thread suited to release the holding nubs 6 of the cap when the cap is turned for unscrewing the same.

The standard crown cap is marketed in the form shown in Fig. 10 with `the fluted skirt 'I extending downwardly and provided with .vertical, spaced, internal nubs 6 and with an out- .f

wardly ared bottom flange I2. The cap is posi tioned over the pouring lip of the container as l shown in Fig. 10 and is sealed by means of a ma-y chine having a plunger I4 which engages the central portion of the shell 5 and exerts pressure thereonto force .the cushion hner 8 into sealing engagement with the pouring lip 3. The capping machine is also provided with an annular sleeve I5, concentric with the plunger I4,which moves downwardly and exerts pressure upon the outwardly flared bottom flange I2 of the cap, thereby exerting pressure onthe flange and bending the nubs 8 of the iluted skirt 'l inwardly about the bead 2.

The particular nubs 6 which register with the sections II of the bead 2 engage the under surface thereof in the usual manner for securing the cap as indicated in Fig. 3. The nubs B which engage the grooves II) are bent inwardly at points corresponding to the position of the groove and are caused to form, in effect, threads on the cap corresponding to the threaded contour of th bead. These latter nubs, however, exert some holding power and assist in securing the cap in facilitate the removal thereof.

The pouring lip 3 is preferably formed -with a continuous convex upper surface, as shown' in Figs. 3 to 8,' which is adapted topress intothe liner l of the cap forassisting in making a tight seal. This increased convex surface extends the sealing area inwardly and thereby reduces the leverage about the pouring lip as a fulcrum when the cap is under pressure. It is to be understood, however, that the upper surface of the pouring .lip may-be made of any desired contour' and may be formed substantially flat if desired, particularly in cases such as with still beverages where a minimum'of lholding power is required.

.After the cap has been applied as described above the containeris securely sealed. 'I'he cap may be removed by unscrewing the same by hand without the use of tools, although it may sometimes be desirableto use a piece of cloth such as a handerchief `when thecap is removed for the first time to protect the hand from the edges of the iluted skirt. When the cap is removed inv this manner it is replaceable by the simpleoperation of snapping the nubs over 'the bead 2 and turning the cap slightly to tighten the same. This is likewise a manual operation and does notrequire topls. When yso'reclosed the container is again. tightlymsealed and the beverage may be bottom edges of the sections Il of the peripheral kept therein for. long periods of time without loss of pressure.

Inasmuch as the sealing threads are formed on the skirt 1 by thebad 2 of the container, the

cap is automatically conformed to its own indiing a bead 22 formed thereabout, similar in general to the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In this embodiment, however, a single inclined groove 23 is formed in the bead which extends around substantially the entire periphery of the pouring lip. This groove forms in effect a single thread as distinguished from the three separate grooves or threads shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The cap may be applied to the bottle neck of Fig. 11 in the same manner as above described and operates in the same way. It is also to be understood that bottle necks having one and three inclined slots or threads have been shown merely for purposes of illustration and that any suitable number of such grooves or threads may be employed. The form shown in Fig. 1 is preferable inasmuch as it permits the cap to be removed with a minimum amount of turning and at the same time eiects a full and complete' seal.

It is to be noted that in the above-described construction a resealable closure is obtained with standard parts, the only changel from standard practice being in the shape of the bead in the pouring lip of the container. The cap itself is automatically seated and conformed to the bead by the use of standard capping machines.

The invention increases the usefulness of crown caps by making the same removable without the use of tools, and by making such caps replaceable. It also makes crown caps available for uses hitherto requiring the more expensive screw caps, such for example as on catchup bottles or the like.

Although certain specific embodiments of the invention have been shown for purposes of illustration it is to be understood that the invention is capable of various uses and that changes and modifications may be made therein as will be apparent to a person skilled in the art. The invention is only to be limited in accordance with the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A resealable container having a neck provided with a pouring lip and having spaced threads on the exterior thereof, the radius of said neck below said threads being less than the radius of the channels of the threads, said threads having their side surfaces at the inner ends thereof parallel to the plane of the pouring lip, and

a closure for said container comprising a crown cap having a shell and a cushion liner therein, said shell having a depending skirt crimped to form internal nubs, said nubs being bent around the lower horizontal edges of said threads and into the channels thereof and formed thereby into conforming threads for holding said liner in pressure engagement with said pouring lip, said threads permitting said cap to be screwed olf and on said container for opening or for resealing the z' same.

2. A resealable container having a neck provided with a pouring lip and having spaced threads on the exterior thereof, the radius of said neck below said threads being less than the radius of the channels of the threads, said threads having their side surfaces at the inner ends thereof parallel to the plane of the pouring lip, and a closure for said container -comprising a crown cap having a shell and a cushion liner therein, said shell having a depending skirt crimped to form internal nubs, said nubs being bent around the lower horizontal edges of said threads and into the channels thereof to form several series of nubs, the nubs of each 'series comprising successively around the periphery of the cap a plurality of nubs at the same distance from the bottom of the skirt beneath said horizontal lower edges and a plurality of nubs at progressively increasing distances from the bottom. of the skirt within the channels of the threads, thereby constituting conforming threads for holding said liner in pressure engagement with said pouring lip, said threads permitting said cap to be screwed off and on said container for opening or for resealing the same.

3. A resealable crown cap comprising a shell having a cushion liner therein, said shell having a depending skirt crimped to form several series of internal nubs, the nubs of each series comprising successively around the periphery of the cap a plurality of nubs at the same distance from the bottom of the skirt and a plurality of nubs at progressively increasing distances from the bottom of the skirt to form a lholding thread permitting said cap to be screwed 01T and on a threaded neck of a container for opening or resealing the same.

4. A resealable container having a neck provided with a pouring lip and having spaced threads on the exterior thereof, the radiu's of said neck below said threads being less than the radius of the channels of the threads forming a groove communicating with the channels of the threads, said threads having their side surfaces at the inner ends thereof parallel to the plane of the pouring lip, and a closure for said container comprising a cap having a shell and a cushion liner therein, said shell having a depending skirt having portions bent inwardly around the said side surfaces of said threads to a point closer to the center of the bottle than the bottoms of the thread rchannels and other portions bent into the channels of the threads and formed thereby into conforming threads for holding said liner in pressure engagement with said pouring lip, said threads permitting said cap to be screwed oi and on said container for opening or for resealing the same, said shell having sufficient peripheral elasticity to permit said rst portions to re-engage beneath said side surfaces when the cap is screwed off the container and on again.

CLARFDTCE S. JACKSON. 

